Five years already the International RS:X Class is providing the Youth Scholarship for those countries who’s RS:X sailor (Male and Female fleets will be counted separately) will participate at the RS:X Youth World Championships for the first time since 2016.

The RS:X Class Youth Scholarship covers 50% (500 EUR) of the cost of the charter equipment at the RS:X Youth Worlds with maximum of six sets total, one set per applying country and per fleet (Male & Female).

The applications (simple email is enough) shall be sent to the RS:X Class ([email protected]) by May 1^st 2018 and will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis. The applicant’s National Association shall be the Full Member of the International Class Association. The final decision will be made by the RS:X Class Executive Committee by 15th of May 2018 latest.

2018 RS:X Youth World Championship will be held in Penmarch, France between 1-7 July 2018.

Notice of Race

Event website: http://www.rsxclass.com/youthworlds2018

Fair Winds,
RS:X Class Executive Committee

The International RS:X Class Executive Committee had recently a Skype meeting to discuss the situation with the RS:X equipment production and the distribution.

The Class Chief Measurer, Bas Edmonds, just came back from the RS:X manufacturing audit in Thailand and China and reported to the Class Executive Committee about his observations.

See the Audit Report here …

The Class Executive Committee, together with NeilPryde and Cobra worked hard the last months, with the help of testing teams from GBR, FRA, NED and POL, to make sure the quality and consistency of the new produced parts will meet the high standards needed. Fins are being produced and shipped for now and the Class Executive is convinced that all fins ordered will be on the water soon.

Marco Leconte, the Windsurfing Manager of NeilPryde Ltd., reported about the production capabilities, about the shipped and the pending quantities. The class concern was that there has been not enough equipment, especially the fins, provided to the sailors from Europe countries.

The Class Executive Committee and the NeilPryde agreed that the highest priority now goes to the European distribution, including the distribution at the RS:X events held in Europe (Princesa Sofia Trophie in Palma, SWC Hyeres and SWC Final in Marseille), where also the non-European sailors, who participating those events, may receive their ordered equipment.

The Class will continuously observe the distribution process and will do their best to make sure that every RS:X sailor who is going to participate at the Aarhus 2018 Sailing World Championships, which is the first qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games, will have their ordered equipment received in time.

During the Princesa Sofia Trophy in Palma, Spain, the Class Sailors Representative, Bryony Shaw and the Class Vice President, Ronnie Meir, will be open to any question related to the equipment and its distribution problem, so feel free to talk to them in Palma.

Also, may you not attend the event in Palma, any question can be sent to the Class Secretary – [email protected].

Fair winds,

Executive Committee
The International RS:X Class Association

The RS:X Windsurfing and Techno South American Championships concluded on Sunday with four days of amazing sailing in near perfect conditions. Paracas, Peru, must be one of the new meccas for windsurfing after delivering sun and wind for the duration of the event, with some tired but very happy windsurfers hitting the beach at the end of the finals day racing. This event has been a perfect showcase for windsurfing at its best with super-fit athletes battling it out for the titles with tactical and high speed racing. Both Saturday and Sunday provided strong winds for both classes which allowed the RS:X fleets to complete their full schedule of 15 races and the Techno fleets to count 10 races.

Mack Van Den Eerenbeemt from Aruba won the event with an dominating performance with his scorecard counting no less than 9 race wins. However, this was a much closer affair than these races wins would indicate with Brazils Gabriel Bastos, who is the South American Champion, a close second but having a much better series of results with discards playing an important part of the win for Van Den Eerenbeemt. Argentina’s Bautista Subidet Birkner claimed third place with a very consistent scoreline with a costly OCS in six which potentially cost him the silver medal. In fourth was a very strong performance from American Geronimo Nores who as the youngest sailor in the fleet has a promising windsurfing career ahead of him.

Whilst all of the sailors would have had one eye on the overall title, the other eye would have been on making sure they qualified their country for the Pan American Games. Aruba, Brazil and Argentina are all through with Peru as host nation already qualified.

Van Den Eerenbeert commented on the win, “Coming from Aruba where its windy, I loved coming here and the conditions suited me perfectly. I really enjoyed having five races per day but I am really tired as its not what we normally do. It makes it more exciting and keeps the racing close but it is hard work for sure. Next I go back to Aruba and then head to Palma for my next regatta”.

If Van Den Eerenbeert dominated, the Peru’s Maria Belen Bazo German completely owned the women’s title virtually from day one, taking 14 race wins and only have a 2^nd place in race 8 to blemish her perfect scoreline. Argentina’s Maria Celia Tejerina Mackern was the only sailor to take a race win and sailed equally consistently to secure a clear second place in the event. The third step on the podium was won by Bruna Mello from Brazil. The experience of this trio really shone through and will be a level that the rest of the fleet will have to aim for. German, a local sailor to Paracas talked about her win, “I am very happy to win here. Paracas is normally windy but this week was extra windy so it was really good for me. I am really looking forward to the Pan American Games coming to Peru next year and representing my home country”. Argentina and Brazil qualified through this event for those Games.

In the Youth fleet, it was the Argentinian duo of Marcos Quiroga and Martin Nores who traded blows throughout the series to fight for the gold. In the end it was very similar to the Men, where the discard really made the difference with Quiroga being the winner but with two races where he didn’t finish, the pressure was definitely on till the final race. Nores was the more consistent sailor counting only firsts and seconds but didn’t beat his compatriot enough times to take the title. Brazilian Bernardo Lobo came in third place.

In the Techno Junior fleet, where the RS:X had some clear winners, the competition was as equally fierce but the battle even closer! Strong winds throughout the week meant that the Techno fleets didn’t get as many races in but all of the racing was in planning conditions and the experience will serve these young apprentices well as they move up through the windsurfing pathway. Inspiration would also be in launching alongside their RS:X heroes and many sailors in the Techno fleet will be aiming for future Olympic Games.

Alexander Grahammer from Peru and Martin Reutemann from Argentina were tied on points after ten races and it all came down to the final race to determine the gold and silver medals. Grahammer won that race with Reutemann only managing fourth place, awarding the title to Grahammer. Another local sailor, De Las Casas, came in third in what was a very challenging week for all of the Techno sailors. The first girl in this fleet was Valentina Ovalle from Peru who sailed a fantastic regatta to narrowly beat Valentina Palma, also from Peru.

Peru also took both the boys and girls titles in the Techno Youth fleet with Alvaro De La Mellena taking the event with a race to spare, counting seven out of ten race wins. Rafael Llerena (Peru) came in second place ,taking the final race to give a comfortable second spot on the podium. Perus control of the Techno fleet was interrupted by Constanza Almenara, who put in a massive effort to claim first girl and third spot overall in the Techno Youth fleet which is a fantastic result for this up and coming sailor – one to watch for the future!

The IWA, Techno and RS:X associations would like to thank all of the sailors, volunteers and officials as well as the Peruvian Sailing Federation for their support in hosting what has been a perfect event to showcase all levels of windsurfing across the board. The Pan American Games will be a perfect follow up to this event and we wish all sailors taking part the very best next year.

Text: Bas Edmonds / RS:X Class

Event website: http://sa2018.internationalwindsurfing.com/

Event video: - https://web.facebook.com/Techno293Class/videos/1914296711954468/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS

 

It was a tough few days on the water as the RS:X Windsurfing South American Championships reached the halfway stage with seven races on the scoreboard for the Men, Women and Youth fleets. Racing on the beautiful waters of Paracas, Peru, it was a day where racing was held towards the upper wind speed limit and where size and fitness would be crucial if any ambitions were held of wining this event. With 8 different nations represented and crucial Panam Games spots available, the racing was tense and thrilling as the RS:X sailors buzzed around the course in high adrenaline, tight, tactical racing on both days.

In the Men’s fleet, Arubas Mack Van Den Eerenbeemt claimed the opening days two races with victory in both and then followed this up by winning three out of the five races on the second day and leads overall. Van Den Eerenbeert did not have it all his own way and was chased very hard for the wins by Brazils Gariel Bastos and Argentina’s Bautista Saubidet Birkner who both claimed a race win from the Aruban sailor and Bastos and Saubidet Birkner sit in second and third places overall respectively. The experienced RS:X racers found it tough going in the strong breezes against the young guns with three time Olympian Reutemann from Argentina sitting in sixth with Flores from Venezuela in seventh.

In the Women’s fleet, local heroine Maria Belen Bazo German has had the racing all her own way and has dominated the fleet here and with seven straight race wins. Consistency is throughout the scoreboard for this fleet with Maria Celia Tejerina Mackern from Argentina holding all second places on hers and Bruna Mello from Brazil counting all third places – unsurprisingly they are in second and third overall. The racing has been close and with those three countries battling it out for the medals it will be interesting to see if either Mackern or Mello will be able to take race wins from German and upset her perfect scores.

The Youth had a much more difficult day, with the five races held on the second day being close to the top end of their limits – some very tired bodies were hitting the beach in the afternoon. It is very much a two way battle between Marcos Quiroga and Martin Nores from Argentina who between them have taken all of the race wins. Quiroga sits on top counting five race wins to Nores’ two but the overall points are much tighter and the final two days of racing will be fascinating to watch. Behind them in third is a gaggle of Brazilians with Lobo and Plentz tied on points for third.

For the organisers, this event is crucial in the planning for the Peruvian Sailing Federation (PSF) heading towards the Pan American Games which Peru are hosting in 2019. Jorge Barreda, PSF President, is delighted that the RS:X and Techno Classes have come to Peru for the South American Championships, “I have fought hard to bring sailing to this beautiful venue which has perfect winds for windsurfing. This event is a qualifier to the Pan American Games and it is great to be able to show off this venue to visiting sailors and teams”. Qualification criteria allows three countries from the Men’s fleet and three countries from the Women’s fleet to qualify for the Games with Peru as host nation automatically gaining a spot.

Racing continues on Saturday and Sunday with even more wind forecast, not relenting at all and pushing all of the competitors to their physical edge. With another 8 races scheduled and all of the fleets competitive and tight on points, its going to be a tough weekends racing to sort out titles and qualification spots.

Text: Bas Edmonds / RS:X Class

Event website: http://sa2018.internationalwindsurfing.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS

In a true celebration of all things windsurfing, the RS:X Windsurfing South American Championships kick off tomorrow as racing in the Techno and RS:X Classes begin under perfect conditions in the town of Paracas, Peru. The RS:X Windsurfing Championships forms the second half of the event with the Techno 293Plus concluding their racing today in a slalom format, which will be used for the first time in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires later this year.

The RS:X Class has gone from strength to strength in South America with 8 different nations represented across the Men’s, Women’s and Youth divisions of racing. The RS:X has been supported in its growth by the Techno Class and this event provides an inspirational environment for the junior sailors competing, as they launch and race alongside their senior heroes.

At the same time, the event provides an opportunity for each countries rising stars to stake their claim for a spot at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in just over two years’ time.

In the Men’s fleet, Venezuelan Daniel Flores will be looking to build on his Rio 2016 experiences and show a clean transom to his competitors. The depth of talent in the fleet is impressive in that there are some strong contenders who will be looking to challenge Flores for the title including three time Olympian Mariano Reutemann from Argentina who will be looking to use his immense experience, despite being the oldest competitor in the fleet, to good use. Allesio Botteri will be one of a number of sailors from the host country, Peru, who will also be wanting to put in a strong performance on home waters. Steve Cramer from the United States is a newcomer to the senior fleet and will be pushing the old guard hard in a sport where fitness and power is equal to age and experience.

The Women’s fleet is smaller, but equally as competitive and it will be Brazils Bruna Mello who is the form sailor to beat. The other spots on the podium are hard to predict at this stage but it will be a fascinating battle to watch unfold as there are a number of sailors who will not only be wanting to claim a medal but also to stand on the podium top step. For both the Men and Women fleets, the added pressure comes in the form of qualification for the PANAM Games in 2019 which is the region’s major regatta.

The Youth fleet is again very competitive and with this being the first major event for the RS:X Youth sailors since the World Sailing Youth World Championships in Sanya last year, it will be a case of who has done the most winter training to come out on top by Sunday. Larissa Schenker from Brazil came 11^th at that event in Sanya and will be hoping to use that as a platform to take home the title.

Racing starts tomorrow and will conclude on Sunday 4^th March with up to 15 races scheduled. It will be an intense competition on a number of different levels as each sailor looks to show off their skills and the fantastic racing that is abundant in the RS:X Class.

Text: Bas Edmonds / RS:X Class

Event website: http://sa2018.internationalwindsurfing.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RSXOlympicWindsurfing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSXCLASS